[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 136 (Friday, July 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 34076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13460]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
[Docket Number FRA-2010-0034]
Port Authority Trans-Hudson's Request To Amend Its Positive Train
Control Safety Plan and Positive Train Control System
AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Notice of availability and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: This document provides the public with notice that, on July 8,
2025, Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) submitted a request for
amendment (RFA) to its FRA-approved Positive Train Control Safety Plan
(PTCSP). As this RFA may involve a request for FRA's approval of
proposed material modifications to an FRA-certified positive train
control (PTC) system, FRA is publishing this notice and inviting public
comment on the railroad's RFA to its PTCSP.
DATES: FRA will consider comments received by August 7, 2025. FRA may
consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable
and without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary
modifications to a PTC system.
ADDRESSES:
Comments: Comments may be submitted by going to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions for
submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the
applicable docket number. The relevant PTC docket number for this host
railroad is Docket No. FRA-2010-0034. For convenience, all active PTC
dockets are hyperlinked on FRA's website at https://railroads.dot.gov/research-development/program-areas/train-control/ptc/railroads-ptc-dockets. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal,
Train Control, and Crossings Division, telephone: 816-516-7168, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In general, title 49 United States Code
(U.S.C.) section 20157(h) requires FRA to certify that a host
railroad's PTC system complies with title 49 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part 236, subpart I, before the technology may be
operated in revenue service. Before making certain changes to an FRA-
certified PTC system or the associated FRA-approved PTCSP, a host
railroad must submit, and obtain FRA's approval of, an RFA to its PTCSP
under 49 CFR 236.1021.
Under 49 CFR 236.1021(e), FRA's regulations provide that FRA will
publish a notice in the Federal Register and invite public comment, in
accordance with 49 CFR part 211, if an RFA includes a request for
approval of a material modification of a signal or train control
system. Accordingly, this notice informs the public that, on July 8,
2025, PATH submitted an RFA to its PTCSP for its Communication Based
Train Control, which seeks FRA's approval to implement a software
update to PATH's Automatic Train Control current revenue system
software, including Automatic Train Supervision (ATS) software, Zone
Controller (ZC) database, and Carborne Controller database updates, and
will be deployed on all ZC territories of the PATH system along with
the ATS system, in accordance with PATH's vendor code development
process. That RFA is available in Docket No. FRA-2010-0034.
Interested parties are invited to comment on PATH's RFA to its
PTCSP by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of
this railroad's RFA, FRA will consider any comments or data submitted
within the timeline specified in this notice and to the extent
practicable, without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary
modifications to a PTC system. See 49 CFR 236.1021; see also 49 CFR
236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, FRA maintains the authority to
approve, approve with conditions, or deny a railroad's RFA to its PTCSP
at FRA's sole discretion.
Privacy Act Notice
In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits comments from the
public to better inform its decisions. DOT posts these comments,
without edit, including any personal information the commenter
provides, to https://www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of
records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. To facilitate
comment tracking, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the
name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely
optional. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or
confidential information, please contact FRA for alternate submission
instructions.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams,
Director, Office of Railroad Systems and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2025-13460 Filed 7-17-25; 8:45 am]
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